By Gary Young, EVP and co-founder, Royalty Exchange

Royalty Exchange has sold over $75 million worth of catalogs for hundreds of songwriters, artists, and producers over the last 5 years

In this series, I’m going to share all our secrets.

You’ve probably heard about the boom in music catalog sales taking place across the music biz over the last year or so.

Maybe you’ve asked yourself if you should be doing the same. Or maybe you’ve decided but just don’t know how to get started.

There are a lot of misconceptions and mistakes that I’ve seen over and over again that you can easily avoid. And there are also many smart, proven strategies that lead to success if followed. I put together this series to help you make the right decision when it comes to selling your catalog.

It’s a big deal. And it pays to get it right.

This is especially important today, when the coronavirus crisis has upended all the rules about music and money.

Some of you may have to make tough decisions in the coming months and I want to arm you with everything you need to weather this crisis, but emerge from it in better shape than before.

But before we get started, there’s something to think about upfront… Selling your catalog might not be the right decision for you.

Now that might seem like an odd thing for me to say because I’m in the business of doing catalog deals. That’s all Royalty Exchange does. And if nobody sold their royalties… then we’d go out of business.

But ultimately, we’re in the business of helping artists gain financial freedom. And in many cases, selling your catalog isn’t the best strategy for that goal. We wouldn’t be in business as long as we have, or have as many repeat customers as we do, if we encouraged bad financial decisions.

Selling your catalog will probably get you a life-changing amount of money.

Seeing a huge pile of money hit your bank account is an amazing feeling.

Overnight, you’ll feel rich.

But it can be a trap.

Because nobody is going to buy your catalog expecting to lose money on the deal. I don’t care if it’s your publisher, your record label, a hedge fund, or a private investor. They’re all buying it with the expectation that they’ll make more money over time.

They may pay you $50,000 today for your royalties… and expect to make $75,000 over the next 10 years.

When you sell your catalog, you’re making a trade: a large amount of money today for probably less money over the long haul.

Often, that’s the right decision…  but sometimes it’s not.

If you don’t have a plan for the money then it’s probably the wrong decision for you.

That’s our first secret for you…

Secret #1: Have A Plan